Curling

Gananoque Curling Club

The heart of curling lies in small local clubs and within its members. The Gananoque Curling Club has over 200 members and we invite you to join in the fun. The club is open from October to April, offering four world-class sheets to curl on and a comfortable bar and banquet facility to enjoy before and after your game. Summer rentals are available from April – September. The club’s facilities provide an ideal location for members to relax, socialize and recount their game. Members and non-members alike may also utilize the club’s banquet and catering facilities for private functions including banquets, parties, and other social events throughout the year.

The Gananoque Curling Club is now fully handicapped accessible.

About the Game

Curling is not only fun, it is great exercise. A sport of fitness and finesse, curling is enjoyed by thousands of Canadians and over 1.5 million people in 35 nations around the globe. Men, women, and youth curl for winter recreation and competitive satisfaction that can last a lifetime.

Curling Terms

Curl – a turn of the rock’s handle upon release makes the rock curl, or curve as it travels down the ice

Draw – a rock that stops in front of, or in the house

End – one end is complete when all 16 rocks (eight per team) have been delivered

Guard – a rock stopping between the hog line and the house to prevent the opposition from hitting a rock in the house

Hack – a rubber foothold from which curlers deliver the rock

Hammer – the last rock of each end

Hog Lines – located 21 feet from the tee line. A rock must be released before the near hog line, and travel beyond the far hog line, or it is removed from play

House – the round scoring area, 12 feet in diameter, with concentric circles of four and eight feet in diameter inside

Rocks – also known as stones, are made of rare, dense, polished granite. Each rock weighs 42 pounds

Slider – worn on the sliding foot during the delivery of the stone to allow for a long smooth motion and follow through

Understanding The Game

A league game is typically eight ends, lasting about two hours. One end is complete when all 16 rocks (8 per team) have been delivered. Each team has four players — a lead, a second, a third, and a skip. All four players deliver two rocks per end, alternating with the other team.

The object is to get the rock to come to rest at the spot where the skip called for it or to move an opponent’s rock.

Determining the score is simple. A rock is in the scoring area if it is in, or even touching, the house (concentric circles). One point is scored for each rock closer to the middle of the house (the button) than any of the opponents’s. The team that scores in the previous end delivers the first rock in the next end, giving the opposing team the last rock (the hammer).